Canadian HR Reporter

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"I'm sure there's some great hardware that is cheap — that could run on Android or iPhones — that could do the same thing without having to permanently embed something," he said. "I just don't see the advantages over that." However, the reduction of em- ployee theft or fraud could be a benefit of embedded microchips, said Christman. "What employers should be thinking about really isn't how, but why," he said. "And whether it's implanted or it's a smartwatch they can clock in with... the advantage of an im- plant is it's not something you'd be passing around just like a watch: 'Hey, clock me in' like the old-days punch cards." "Sometimes, people will go out of the way if it helps them with convenience. If there's a value to the employee rather than the employer, they'll have more likely adoption." But using an embedded micro- chip for tasks as simple as tracking the number of photocopies made by an individual just "ain't going to sell it," said Christman. Privacy issues Microchips' continued advance- ment into Canada would un- doubtedly face legal hurdles presented by the 2012 Ontario court case of R. v. Cole, or the Sas- katchewan case of R. v. Morelli in 2010, where it was concluded that privacy is a matter of reason- able expectation in the workplace, said Ron Minken, a senior lawyer at Minken Employment Lawyers in Markham, Ont. Other roadblocks include a possible violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms regarding security of person. At issue would be the invasion of employees' pri- vacy rights, he said. "(In terms of ) justification for security purposes, microchip- ping doesn't relate to personal identifiers such as fingerprint scans or iris scans," said Mink- en. "e concern is the use of it for potentially surveillance and also collection of personal information." "Even if that's not the in- tention, that could still be the consequence." Future employee-related mi- crochips could contain personal information that is meaningful, intimate and touching on the user's biographical core. Surveil- lance and collection of personal data could also extend outside of the office, he said. "It would be a tough sell to make this mandatory. Employers would have a very uphill battle to convince one that it is reason- able. I suppose if the employment agreement did provide for that before the employee began… then the employee may have a tough time to say no. "It'd have to be a company where the consensus was that this is necessary and reasonable for the company, and it's very tough to think of a situation where that does apply... I can't think of one." Accommodation issues could also enter the equation if a worker refused to have a microchip em- bedded for medical reasons, said Minken. Human resources technology should always work to protect individuals' privacy and only be used following consent from the employee in question, said Lopes. "I really struggle with the pri- vacy, consent and even health (is- sues associated with embedded microchips)," she said. "You look at implants — people have reac- tions to things. I'll be honest with you — when I read about micro- chips, it freaks me out." Embedding a microchip in someone is akin to turning them into a "walking, trackable thing," said Lopes. "at's what we do to prison- ers… at's where my brain goes to. at notion really bothers me," she said. Way of the future? 32M does deserve recognition for its creative attempt to reduce fric- tion in typical day-to-day actions conducted by employees, such as buying snacks or entering the of- fice, said Lopes. "None of us likes password cards, fobs or keys," she said. "Do I fundamentally believe that enterprises and HR practices are going to find ways of elimi- nating friction and better under- standing their people (by) making their lives easier or more stream- lined? For sure." "I think you're going to see that happen in wearables, in biomet- rics. I think that's where the indus- try will go." Microchips have not yet been tagged as the "latest, greatest" technological option for human resources professionals, accord- ing to Christman. Artificial intelligence, bots, and machine learning remain the hot-button topics of the day as organizations ponder automation amidst the intelligence revolution, he said. "Is it the next wave? e an- swer's no. Is it a future wave? Yes. But not the next wave by any means," said Christman. "I don't see any employers hop- ing to implement (embedded mi- crochips). Most would be hoping to avoid it because it just sounds messy." MICROCHIPS < pg. 9 Latest attempt at reducing workday 'friction' "I struggle with the privacy, consent and health issues of embedded microchips."

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